The site is currently owned by Joseph DeWinter, who bought it in 2001.

Built in about 1670, the house itself has been home to squatters, has boarded-up windows on the ground floor and a wild overgrown yard.

According to Russell Rigby, of Rigby & Co, the firm has received bids from four developers - two who regularly operate in Derby and two who work outside of the city.

Mr Rigby said: “We have been looking for serious bidders and so far we have got four bids from developers.

“However, they have so far been below Mr DeWinter’s asking price and we hope that in January we can come together and discuss where we go from here and whether or not we accept one of the offers or not.

Pictured is An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, a work of art by Joseph Wright

“I know a number of plans for the building are currently being discussed by various groups.”

Ashley Waterhouse, chairman of Derby Civic Society, said the site is of "huge historical significance" to the city.

He said: "Whichever developer does acquire the land, I would hope that they come to the civic society to discuss the huge significance that it has for Derby.

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"It would be grand if the house became a museum dedicated to time after John Whitehurtst. We have got so much beautiful architecture in Derby but we have massive skyscrapers being built from the ground up without any consideration of the surrounding area."

In 1688, the building was inherited by the country’s first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, who occasionally stayed there.

Famed clockmaker, scientist and prominent Lunar Society member John Whitehurst acquired the building in 1764 and lived there permanently.

In 1793, Joseph Wright, the city’s most famous painter, moved in. He died there in 1797, having spent his final months there with his two daughters.

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, knew Wright and Whitehurst and visited the property three times.

In 1865, it became home to John Smith Midland Clock Works, later Smith of Derby, which occupied the premises until 1998 when the clockmaker relocated to Alfreton Road.